HYDROLOGIC OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL 115 AM CDT FRI MAY 9 2008
...REGULAR RAINFALL KEEPING DROUGHT CONDITIONS STEADY...
SYNOPSIS...
ACCORDING TO THE LATEST U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR...AREAS SOUTH AND EAST OF A LINE FROM CULLMAN TO NEW HOPE TO FORT PAYNE REMAIN IN THE EXTREME DROUGHT /D3/ CATEGORY. ALL OF SOUTHERN MIDDLE TENNESSEE... THE REMAINDER OF CULLMAN...MORGAN...AND DEKALB COUNTIES...AND ALL OF LAWRENCE...LIMESTONE...MADISON...AND JACKSON COUNTIES...ARE IN THE SEVERE DROUGHT /D2/ CATEGORY. IN FRANKLIN COUNTY...AND EAST OF THE NATCHEZ TRACE PARKWAY IN LAUDERDALE AND COLBERT COUNTIES...MODERATE DROUGHT /D1/ CONDITIONS EXIST. ALONG THE NATCHEZ TRACE...CONDITIONS ARE CONSIDERED ABNORMALLY DRY /D0/.
SUMMARY OF IMPACTS...
STATE AND LOCAL ACTIONS: AS OF THE LATEST DECLARATION ON APRIL 22ND...THE STATE NO LONGER HAS ANY COUNTIES UNDER A DROUGHT EMERGENCY. ALL ELEVEN COUNTIES IN THE NWS HUNTSVILLE COVERAGE AREA ARE NOW IN A STATE-DECLARED DROUGHT WARNING.
HYDROLOGIC IMPACTS: PRIOR TO THE RAINFALL ON THURSDAY...STREAMFLOWS ACROSS THE CENTRAL TENNESSEE VALLEY WERE RUNNING BELOW NORMAL TO MUCH BELOW NORMAL. A COUPLE LOCATIONS WERE APPROACHING RECORD LOWS FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR. THE RAIN ON THURSDAY INCREASED THESE VALUES SLIGHTLY.
MOST AREA LAKE LEVELS CONTINUE TO REMAIN NEAR OR SLIGHTLY ABOVE NORMAL FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR...AND WELL ABOVE LAST YEAR'S LEVELS. THE EXCEPTIONS ARE BEAR CREEK LAKE...WHICH IS PURPOSELY BEING HELD WELL BELOW THE USUAL LEVELS DUE TO CONSTRUCTION WORK...AND LITTLE BEAR CREEK LAKE...WHICH IS ALSO SEVERAL FEET BELOW NORMAL BUT RISING.
WATER RESTRICTIONS HAVE EASED SIGNIFICANTLY OVER MANY AREAS. RESIDENTS SHOULD CONSULT THEIR LOCAL WATER AUTHORITY FOR DETAILS ON POSSIBLE RESTRICTIONS. FOR WATER CONSERVATION AND PROTECTION TIPS...VISIT: HTTP://WWW.EPA.GOV/WATER/CITIZEN/THINGSTODO.HTML (ALL LOWER CASE).
AGRICULTURAL IMPACTS: SOIL MOISTURE RANKINGS IN THE CENTRAL TENNESSEE VALLEY ARE MAINLY BETWEEN THE 10TH AND 30TH PERCENTILE...WITH THE EXCEPTION OF NORTHWEST ALABAMA...WHICH IS AROUND THE 50TH PERCENTILE.
FIRE DANGER IMPACTS: THE ALABAMA FORESTRY COMMISSION CURRENTLY HAS NO COUNTIES IN A FIRE ALERT OR DROUGHT EMERGENCY.
CLIMATE SUMMARY...
RAINFALL FOR APRIL WAS NEAR OR EVEN A LITTLE ABOVE NORMAL. THIS HAS HELPED SIGNIFICANTLY IN THE SHORT AND MEDIUM RANGE DROUGHT SITUATION. RAINFALL FOR MAY SO FAR IS NEAR NORMAL IN MOST AREAS.
PRECIPITATION TOTALS FOR THE YEAR TO DATE RANGE FROM ABOUT TWO INCHES BELOW NORMAL TO AS MUCH AS EIGHT INCHES BELOW NORMAL IN FRANKLIN COUNTY ALABAMA AND COLBERT COUNTY. RAINFALL TOTALS FOR THE LAST 90 DAYS ARE 70 TO 85 PERCENT OF NORMAL.
THE RAINFALL TOTAL AND DEFICIT TABLES THAT HAVE BEEN INCLUDED IN THIS STATEMENT ARE NOW BEING ISSUED A MINIMUM OF TWICE PER MONTH AS A PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT. THIS CAN BE FOUND UNDER AWIPS ID HUNPNSHUN OR WMO ID NOUS44 KHUN. SEE BELOW FOR A WEB LINK.
PRECIPITATION/TEMPERATURE OUTLOOK...
A STALLED FRONTAL BOUNDARY WILL BE THE FOCUS FOR RAIN CHANCES THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT...THEN A COLD FRONT WILL SWEEP THROUGH THE REGION SUNDAY MORNING BRINGING MORE RAIN. ANOTHER RAIN CHANCE IS IN THE FORECAST FOR MIDWEEK NEXT WEEK. RAINFALL TOTALS OVER AN INCH ARE LIKELY THROUGH NEXT THURSDAY.
THE OUTLOOK FOR WEEK TWO...MAY 16TH THROUGH MAY 22ND...INDICATES CONTINUED ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPITATION CHANCES.
THE LONGER-RANGE OUTLOOK FROM JUNE THROUGH AUGUST INDICATES EQUAL CHANCES FOR BELOW...NEAR...OR ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPITATION AND TEMPERATURES.
THE LATEST SEASONAL DROUGHT OUTLOOK INDICATES IMPROVEMENT OF DROUGHT CONDITIONS OVER SOUTHERN MIDDLE TENNESSEE AND NORTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL ALABAMA. THIS DOES NOT IMPLY AN END TO THE DROUGHT...BUT A CONTINUED EASING OF DROUGHT-RELATED IMPACTS. THE OUTLOOK INDICATES SOME IMPROVEMENT IS EXPECTED EARLY THIS MONTH OVER NORTHEAST ALABAMA...IMPLYING A BRIEF CONTINUED EASING OF DROUGHT-RELATED IMPACTS. HOWEVER...CONDITIONS COULD BEGIN TO DETERIORATE AGAIN IF MORE REGULAR RAINFALL IS NOT EXPERIENCED.
NEXT ISSUANCE DATE...
THE NEXT SCHEDULED STATEMENT WILL BE ISSUED ON THURSDAY...MAY 15TH. UPDATES WILL OCCUR SOONER IF ANY CONDITIONS DEPICTED IN THIS OUTLOOK CHANGE.
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RELATED WEB SITES... /ALL LOWER CASE/
FOR MUCH MORE DROUGHT INFORMATION...VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/HUNTSVILLE.
FOR A TABLE OF PRECIPITATION DEFICITS...GO TO HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/HUNTSVILLE/PRODUCTVIEW.PHP?PIL=PNS&SID=HUN YOU MAY NEED TO CLICK ON THE PREVIOUS VERSIONS NUMBERS TO ACCESS THE LATEST TABULAR INFORMATION.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS...
SOME DATA USED IN THIS STATEMENT WERE PROVIDED BY THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE...COUNTY EXTENSION AGENTS...THE U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY...THE TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY...AND THE STATES OF ALABAMA AND TENNESSEE.
QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS...
FOR QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS ON THE DROUGHT...CONTACT: NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE 320A SPARKMAN DRIVE HUNTSVILLE AL 35805 PHONE: 256-890-8503 SR-HUN.WEBMASTER@NOAA.GOV
IMPORTANT PRODUCT NOTE... ON JUNE 10TH 2008...THIS PRODUCT WILL MOVE TO A NEW PRODUCT IDENTIFIER AND BE NAMED THE "DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT." THE NEW PRODUCT IDENTIFIER IS DGTHUN AND THE WMO HEADER IS AXUS74 KHUN. AFTER JUNE 10TH...THE "HYDROLOGIC OUTLOOK" PRODUCT WILL BE RESERVED FOR FLOODING POTENTIAL. FOR ADDITIONAL DETAILS...SEE THE PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT.
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ELLIOTT